BBC Investigations, London<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n During a night out in London to celebrate a friend’s birthday, Annie went to a bar that ran the Ask for Angela safety scheme. When she ended up needing to evade the attentions of a man she’d met there, she hoped that asking for Angela would offer a “discreet and easy” escape route.<\/p>\n Here, in her own words, she explains how this proved not to be the case. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “It was like any other birthday night out.<\/p>\n “The plan had been to go out, have a few drinks and have a dance \u2013 we love that kind of night,” says Annie, a 32-year-old lawyer.<\/p>\n “Everyone was just having a really good time, dancing away. I stepped out for a cigarette and I met this guy outside.<\/p>\n “He was wearing this white leather jacket and just seemed really, really fun. He said how nice my dress was.”<\/p>\n Annie is speaking out in the wake of secret filming by the BBC<\/a> that found 13 of the 25 venues visited by reporters failed to respond appropriately to the Angela code word – which is supposed to indicate to bar staff that a customer is in need of help.<\/p>\n Research by the BBC since that report has found more than 30 councils now expect or demand that venues run Ask for Angela when deciding liquor licence applications<\/a>, and a further 67 local authorities confirmed they were either already looking to follow suit or would consider doing so in their next licensing policy review.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “He seemed a really fun and harmless guy and I had had a few drinks by this point so I was a bit more chatty and confident than I would otherwise have been,” says Annie, who is originally from Edinburgh but now lives in London.<\/p>\n “We swapped numbers and kind of said, ‘oh, we’ll have a dance inside together at some point’.<\/p>\n “About 30 mins to an hour later I got a message [from him] asking where I was.<\/p>\n “I went downstairs to have a bit of a dance. Then he got a bit ‘handsy’ and a bit too close.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Source: Ask for Angela<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “I tried to slink away and he was reeling me back,” Annie says. “I wasn’t giving him any signals – I was like, ‘no, I’m not enjoying this’… I made it very clear that I was not interested. It was fight or flight in a very busy club.<\/p>\n “And when I got away he followed me. I felt a little bit threatened and a little bit vulnerable.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She adds: “I’d seen Ask for Angela posters in so many bars.<\/p>\n “I went into the toilet, saw the poster, and thought: ‘Ah, there’s an opportunity to get myself clear of the situation.’<\/p>\n “One thing I would say is that the poster does not tell you what to say exactly. Everyone knows to Ask for Angela but how you actually do it is not clear. <\/p>\n “I felt hopeful \u2013 I’ve got a discreet, easy way to extricate myself from this situation.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “When I went to the bar, the guy appeared again and tried to order us both a drink.<\/p>\n “But while he was talking to the other bartender I said to a male bartender, who was in his early 20s: ‘Is Angela there?’<\/p>\n “It was loud, but he looked at me totally puzzled. I don’t know if he heard what I said. So I said it again: ‘Is Angela there?’<\/p>\n “He just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.<\/p>\n “The guy was still next to me but distracted enough \u2013 and I said: ‘Please can you get me away from this guy? I’m feeling uncomfortable.’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “The bartender shouted to the guy I was trying to get away from to get his payment, or to ask what he wanted, and I was able to slip off and get back upstairs.<\/p>\n “It was embarrassing because I’d just been yelling ‘Angela’ in this man’s face and he didn’t know what was talking about.<\/p>\n “I was a bit angry because although I came out of the situation unscathed, it could have been very different.<\/p>\n “The expectation is that it’s an easy, safe way to get yourself out of an unsafe situation – and it absolutely wasn’t. <\/p>\n “It was a disaster.<\/p>\n “I ended up having to explain myself, potentially putting myself in further danger in a busy bar.<\/p>\n “I mean I didn’t know anything about this man and I didn’t know if he was dangerous or would take offence at me trying to get away.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sylvia Oates, chief executive of Ask for Angela, says Angela should be “shorthand for asking for help” and that the person using the word should be quickly taken to safety.<\/p>\n She says while she was disappointed to hear of Annie’s experience, efforts to implement and improve the scheme are ongoing across the country.<\/p>\n Each year, hundreds of people successfully use Ask for Angela, Ms Oates says.<\/p>\n “We want to make sure the scheme is being run effectively and to make sure people can have confidence in it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for Annie, she managed to get away from the man and rejoin her friends.<\/p>\n She has no idea what happened to him inside the venue after their encounter.<\/p>\n He did, though, message her the next day, she says.<\/p>\n “He said he had enjoyed dancing with me and asked where I had disappeared to.<\/p>\n “I immediately blocked him.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A list of organisations in the UK offering support and information with some of the issues in this story is available at <\/i>BBC Action Line<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/4519\/live\/9304fae0-f8de-11ef-8c03-7dfdbeeb2526.jpg.webp\")
David Perella\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
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David Perella\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat should happen when somebody asks for Angela?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![\"Angela](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/6d69\/live\/0bfea720-f85d-11ef-8714-d3611ded0ada.jpg.webp\")
Angela Crompton family<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
‘It was embarrassing’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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David Perella\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Perhaps](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/ecab\/live\/3ea7f0c0-a194-11ef-a4fe-a3e9a6c5d640.jpg.webp\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b44a\/live\/71ce1a30-f8e0-11ef-8c03-7dfdbeeb2526.jpg.webp\")
David Perella\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n